Snowplow



17, 1935- c. c. THORNHILL SNOWPLOW Filed Oct. 10, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W, 1935- c. c. THORNIHILL SNOWPLOW Filed Oct. 10, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 17, 1935 UNITE STATES 'ArsNT orsies SNOWPLOW Charles C. Thornhill, American Falls, Idaho Application October 10, 1933, Serial No. 693,006

2 Claims.

This invention relates to snow plows, and has for one of its objects the production of a simple and efficient snow plow which is designed in such a manner as to dig into a snow-bank for breaking the snow up into small particles and then feeding the snow into a series of blowers where I the snow is carried away from the rotor or diggers and is carried away to the side of the road.

A further object of this invention is the production of a simple and eflicient snow plow which may be attached to the front of a vehicle such as a truck or locomotive, and which may be efficiently operated for digging into a snow-bank and feeding the snow to the side of the road without danger of clogging the plow, and without depending upon the power of push to lift the snow out of the roadway.

A still further'object of this invention is the production of a simple and efficient snow plow which is so constructed as to break up a snowbank and deliver the broken up snow or ice immediately to a series of blowers where the snow may be conveniently delivered to the side of the road. I

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear throughout the following specification and claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved snow plow, certain parts being shown in section;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the snow plow;

Figure 3 is an enlarged front elevation of one of the blower casings, certain parts of the supporting frame being shown in section and taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a top plan View of the snow 'plo certain parts being shown in section;

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig- 7 ure 1; Figure 6 is a, section taken on line 6-6 of Figure 1; and 7 Figure 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the digging cleats carried by the rotor. By referring to the drawings, it will be seen that I designates the power vehicle which is illustrated in the nature of a truck, but the power vehicle may be in the nature of a locomotive or other suitable driving means Without departing from the spirit of the invention. To the front of the driving vehicle I is mounted the snow plow A which comprises a frame F having lower longitudinal side rails 2 and upper longitudinal side rails 3 mounted upon each side of the frame F and these rails 2 and 3 are connected at their respective ends by means of vertical braces 4.

suitable or desired manner to the power vehicle I. 10

The lower ends 9 of the frame 6 are braced by means of the parallel longitudinally extending braces I!) which extend. rearwardly and are provided with upwardly extending ends it, which ends are secured, as at l2, to the chassis or other 15' portion of the power vehicle l By means of the rod 8 and the braces H] the substantially inverted V-shaped frame 6 will be properly held in its vertical position. For the purpose of efficiently driving the moving parts of the snow plow A, the 20 driving shaft 13 of the power vehicle I is extended forwardly and is provided with a clutch M which is adapted to be engaged by the sliding clutch element l5 carried by the forwardly extending operating shaft iii mounted upon the frame F. 25 An operating lever I1 is pivotally mounted upon a supporting arm l8 and engages the clutch element l5 in such a manner, as to permit the operator to shift the clutch element l5 into and out of engagement with the clutch it for the purpose of controlling the operation or the driving of the shaft I6. A suitable holding link i9 is carried by the frame 6' for holding the lever H in a clutchengaging position. The shaft it is supported upon a journal 26 carried by the transversely 35 extending bar 2| of the frame F and a bevel gear 22 is carried by the forwardend of this shaft i5.

A transversely extending driving shaft 23 is journaled upon the top rails 3 of the frame F, as shown in Figure 4, and the bevel gear 22 of the 40 shaft l B meshes with the bevel gear 24 carried by the shaft 23. This shaft 23 also carries bevel gears 25 which mesh with bevel gears 26 carried by the blower shafts 2i, and these blower shafts 2i are journaled within theblower casing 28, 45.

which blower casing 28 is provided with upwardly and outwardly inclined discharge spouts 29 ex-' tending over to and beyond the sides of the frame F, as clearly shown in Figures 2 andv 4. The blower casing '28 comprises two of these spouts 29, 50 as shown, and it is also provided with a plurality of entrance openings at at the forward face thereof, blower fans 3! being mounted within the casing 28 and in the rear of the entrance openings 30. The respective blower fans 3| are separated 55 I by means of a central partition 32, thereby dividing the casing 28 into a pair of separate compartments for blowing the snow into opposite directions to the side of the machine. The blower casing 28 extends in a vertical direction, as shown in the drawings.

A digger drum 34 is journaled upon a transversely extending shaft 35 which is mounted near the forward end of the frame F. This shaft 35 is driven by means of a sprocket wheel 36 over which sprocket wheel 36 passes a sprocket chain 31, the sprocket chain 31 also passing over a sprocket wheel 38, which sprocket wheel 38 is carried by the shaft 23 and is driven thereby. The drum 34 comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending cleat supporting bars-39 upon which cleat supporting bars 39 are mounted the digger cleats 40 which are preferably of an angle structure and may be of suitable design to meet the conditions of the work to be performed by the plow. These cleats 49 may be of the shape shown in Figure 4, or if desired for certain types of work such as cutting into ice and the like, tapering cleats 4| may be secured to the bars 39. Directly in front of the casing 28 and leading from a point approximately below the central axis of the drum and also extending to the openings or ports 30 in the casing 28 is a concave chute or guiding plate 42, which plate 42 extends over the entire width of the frame F and constitutes a means for facilitating the lifting of the snow and ice from the surface of the roads into direct contact with the blower fans 31 where the snowm'ay be then conveyed or blown out through the spouts 29 to the side of the road. The drum 34 as illustrated is arranged in close proximity to the blowers so as to facilitate the delivery of the snow to the blowers. Supported upon the forward ends of the frame F and slightly inclined toward the top thereof are vertically extending cutting knives 43 which are so mounted as to out along the sides of the bank of the snow and thereby facilitate the throwing of the snow up under the drum 34 upon the chute plate 42 and into the blower casing or housing 28.

By considering the drawings and the above specification it should be noted that the present device by mounting the drum upon the forward end of the frame will actually dig into the snowbank and loosen the snow in such a manner as to cause the snow to be conveniently forced up the chute plate 42 and into the blower casing 28 where the blower fans will drive the snow outwardly through the chutes 29. The device therefore does not depend merely upon the .powerof push created by the vehicle I and because of the structure will eliminate the necessity of employing an excess amount of power for the operation of the snow plow. The vertically extending knives 43 also will facilitate the breaking up of the snow-bank and the loosening of the snow by cutting off the sides of the bank in the forward travel of the machine where the drum 43 may properly break up or act upon the snow or ice. As shown in Figure 6, the frame F may be further braced by means of the angle braces 44 which angle braces engage the upper side rails 3 and the lower transversely extending bracing rails 45, as well as the lower corner portions 46 of the blower casing 28.

By means of the particular driving structure it should be understood that the speed of the blowers, as well as the agitating drum 34 may be regulated to suit the character of the Work which is to be performed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:-

1. In a snow plow, an open frame having side walls each consisting of upper and lower rails and front and rear vertically extending bars connecting said rails, a cross bar connecting rear ends of said side walls between the upper rails thereof, bars extending rearwardly from said frame in spaced relation to each other transversely thereof and having upturned rear end portions adapted to be secured to an operating vehicle for the plow, bars extending upwardly from said rearwardly extending bars at front ends thereof and secured to the transversely extending rear bar of said frame with their upper ends intersecting and forming an inverted V-shaped truss for the rear end of the frame, a bracing rod extending rearwardly from the upper end of said truss for connection with a portion of the operating vehicle, a driving shaft extending transversely across said frame and rotatably mounted upon the upper rails of the side walls adjacent their rear ends, an operating shaft rotatably'mounted upon the rear cross bar of said frame and geared to said drive shaft, a blower casing mounted between side Walls of said frame in front of said drive shaft and having a front inlet anda discharge spout, a fan in said casing having a shaft jcurnaled through walls of the casing and driven from the drive shaft, an agitating drum rotatably mounted between side walls of said frame at the front of the frame for delivering snow into the inlet of the casing, and means for transmitting rotation from said drive shaft to said drum.

2. In a snow plow, an open frame, bars extending rearwardly from the frame in spaced relation to each other and adapted to be secured to an operating'vehicle for the plow, an inverted V- shaped truss carried near the rear end of said frame, a bracing rod extending 'rearwardly from the upper end ofsaid truss for connection with a portion of the operating vehicle, a blower casing mounted within said frame and having -a front inlet and a discharge spout, a fan in said casing means for driving said fan, an agitating drum carried within said frame in front of said ,lowercasing'for delivering snow into the inlet of said casing, means for driving said drum, and vertically extending knives carried by the front end of said frame adjacent said drum, said knives being inclined toward each other at their upper ends whereby snow cut by said knives will drop upon said drum. 7

CHARLES C. THORNHILL. 

